Henry’s Hard Soda: Ginger Ale 6 PK $5.97 @ CVS

It bears noting that alongside the Bacardi Mango Rum that I bought and tried out last weekend but didn’t get around to posting a review until this past weekend was really meant for last weekend. It was a combination of laziness and drinking too much all at once because the Bacardi Mango Rum was just that easy to drink and by the time I realized I was gone, I decided to make a mental note to myself to write two articles this past weekend to publish.

Henry’s Hard Soda: Ginger Ale actually struck me by accident. I was actually planning on getting another Bacardi [Insert Fruity Flavor] for my next review but when I saw this at my local CVS, I couldn’t pass it up. It’s basically $1 a bottle for a whole six pack! Wowza’s! I rarely see bottled beer or, I guess, in this case, bottled sweet alcohol for that cheap of a price tag. So when I saw that in the refrigerated section with a bold $5.97 yellow sale tag, I couldn’t pass it up, especially when I vaguely knew that the Bacardi fruit flavored rums will be at least $8.99 like the last time.

Henry’s Hard Soda is a brand that I’ve seen off again on again here and there at various supermarkets but surprisingly, I did not know that CVS carries this brand. I’m not terribly familiar with the brand, per se, as I’ve never tried their hard soda’s except until this past weekend but I’ve certainly seen the brand before–somewhere. It’s definitely not a memorable brand but whenever I see it again, I’m like “Hey~~ I’ve seen that before–somewhere” and then just as fast, I forget about it. This time though, I decided to give it a try.

On my first sip, I know for a fact that the first word that came to mind wasn’t “Ginger Ale.” In fact, the first thing that came to mind was “This tastes like sweet carbonated water.” They were trying to pass this off as ginger ale though. It’s not ginger ale by any extent of the word. Honestly, I think it tastes faintly like a ginger-tasting drink but definitely not a ginger ale. Otherwise, it’s not a bad taste. It just tastes sweet to the tongue and at an ABV of 4.2%, it packs about the same punch as a bottle of Bud or Coors, which is fairly weak.

The good news is that the “cane sugar” actually speeds up the body’s dehydration process so, in effect, it “feels” like the alcohol is hitting you faster. It’s also spiking your blood sugar really high only to hit rock bottom very shortly after. And if you have a fast metabolism, that’s exactly what you’re going to experience.

If I had to compare this to something else like any of the “Not Your Father’s” beers, the latter will blow Henry’s Hard Soda out of the water any time of day. Hands down. In terms of flavor and alcoholic punch, Henry’s Hard Soda just does not stand up to the line of “Not Your Father’s” beers of any variety. When compared to Smirnoff Ice though, well, Smirnoff’s flavored malt beverages are still better tasting and the ABV is higher by 0.8%. I’m really trying to find something of comparable taste here but I just can’t seem to think of one right now.

It tastes better than your average malt liquor but it’s not on the same level as Not Your Father’s or Smirnoff Ice. I guess we can put this at the same level as Mike’s Hard Lemonade but the thing is, this isn’t a lemonade yet that’s about the closest comparison in terms of taste that I can think of.

All in all, it’s worth a try, at its sale price but I wouldn’t regularly buy this at their regular price, which, in my opinion, isn’t worth the whole $12.99 retail price. It’s worth far less than that and I think at $5.97 for a six pack, that sounds about right.